Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Sweet Companion
    Sweet Companion
    Sweet Companion
    Ebook62 pages56 minutes

    Sweet Companion

    By Nancy Lawrence

    4/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    A delightful short story, set in Regency London.

    When an all-too-serious lord fears his elderly mother’s saucy new companion is not quite a lady, he’ll do anything to protect his mother’s health and happiness.

    Olivia Charteris is only trying to be a loving friend to elderly Lady Granfell. She agrees to move in and do what she can to restore the frail woman’s health. In fact, Olivia’s knowledge of herbs and natural cures is already starting to make a noticeable difference . . . to everyone but Lady Granfell’s son. The beastly Lord Granfell rarely visits his mother and Olivia forms an instant dislike of the man . . . until she sees for herself how concerned he truly is for his mother’s welfare. Before long, unpredictable, romantic Olivia finds herself besotted by a practical and logical lord.

    Antony St. John, Earl of Granfell doesn’t trust the young woman who has taken up residence in his mother’s home as her companion. In his opinion, Miss Olivia Charteris is simply trying to fleece his mother of every penny in her purse, while filling his mother’s head with preposterous romantic notions. Worse yet, she leaves his emotions in turmoil every time her eyes meet his. There’s no room in his well-ordered life for Olivia and her romantic notions. Or is there?

    Be sure to read other Regency Romances by Nancy Lawrence, available on Smashwords:
    - A Bewitching Minx
    - An Intimate Arrangement
    - Once Upon A Christmas

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAnglocentria, Inc.
    Release dateMar 14, 2011
    ISBN9780983504238
    Sweet Companion
    Author

    Nancy Lawrence

    Nancy Lawrence writes traditional Regency romances, where the heroes are gentlemen, the heroines are ladies, and there’s always a fancy-dress ball to attend. Nancy lives with her family in Aurora, Colorado, “the best city in the world if you can’t live in Bath, England.” Join Nancy as she explores all things Regency on her website. You can also connect with her on Facebook, and follow her on Twitter and Pinterest where she shares news, updates on her writing progress, and new releases.

    Read more from Nancy Lawrence

    Related to Sweet Companion

    Related ebooks

    Royalty Romance For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      The Coming Out

      May 11, 2020

      The Coming Out
      6 min read

    • Article

      Beau Brummell

      Nov 6, 2020

      Beau Brummell
      5 min read

    • Article

      A double LIFE

      Sep 13, 2022

      A double LIFE
      6 min read

    • Article

      The King’s passion

      Aug 11, 2021

      The King’s passion
      11 min read

    • Article

      The King’s passion

      Aug 11, 2021

      The King’s passion
      11 min read

    • Article

      Partners

      Sep 15, 2018

      Enter,” she says, and is obeyed. He’s taller than before, or perhaps he only seems taller now that he’s here, in the house. She walks behind him, moving toward the living room, and wonders if he might be too tall for her house. It soon dawns on her t

      8 min read

    • Article

      Mrs Macarthur’s Secret Diary

      Jun 17, 2020

      Mrs Macarthur’s Secret Diary
      7 min read

    • Article

      Mrs Macarthur’s Secret Diary

      Jun 17, 2020

      Mrs Macarthur’s Secret Diary
      7 min read

    • Article

      An ever-fixed MARK

      Nov 1, 2023

      An ever-fixed MARK
      6 min read

    • Article

      The INVISIBLE RED STRING

      Feb 1, 2023

      The INVISIBLE RED STRING
      10 min read

    • Article

      A Little About Why

      Jun 1, 2023

      A Little About Why
      15 min read

    • Article

      Ferrante Elena Beautiful No More!

      Oct 7, 2020

      Ferrante Elena Beautiful No More!
      6 min read

    • Article

      Elena Ferrante Beautiful No More!

      Oct 7, 2020

      Elena Ferrante Beautiful No More!
      6 min read

    • Article

      Supportive Husband

      Sep 12, 2023

      There were less intimate places available, so it was odd when a woman took the seat directly facing mine across the subway aisle. I looked up from my book and right back down: a couple of months before, we’d gone home together. She had a Southern acc

      22 min read

    • Article

      Begin Again

      Jun 14, 2022

      My grandfather came to live with me. There was nowhere else for him to go. What had happened to all his children? Death, decay, exile—I hardly know. My own parents died of pain. But I must not be too gloomy, at the beginning, or you will leave me, an

      6 min read

    • Article

      Elsi, The Strange Maid

      Sep 27, 2018

      Elsi, The Strange Maid
      14 min read

    • Article

      Justanother Day

      May 31, 2022

      Justanother Day
      6 min read

    • Article

      Cast Out

      Jul 10, 2021

      Verity pushed back the quilts, rolled off her straw mattress onto the floor, felt for the poker, and stirred the ashes. The embers glowed. She wouldn’t have to go fire-borrowing again. Her chilled hands were clumsy. One glowing bit of wood rolled fro

      21 min read

    • Article

      Family Matters

      May 15, 2020

      Family Matters
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Joke

      Sep 1, 2020

      Although best known for his 1953 novel Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury was also a prolific writer of short stories, having published his first while still a teenager. This previously unpublished story likely dates to 1950, the year The Martian Chronicle

      5 min read

    • Article

      Haunted House Whodunnit

      Sep 20, 2023

      Haunted House Whodunnit
      2 min read

    • Article

      How Dementia Saved Mum & Me

      Mar 31, 2021

      How Dementia Saved Mum & Me
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Professor’s Wife

      Sep 1, 2020

      The Professor’s Wife
      8 min read

    • Article

      Fanning the FLAMES

      Jan 18, 2022

      Fanning the FLAMES
      6 min read

    • Article

      Gabriel & Holly

      Feb 8, 2021

      The first day was the most daunting. It helped that she’d arrived last night to settle herself in the cottage annexe before first contact this morning. Still, nerves attacked her as she stood before the door of the imposing but charming ivy-covered 1

      6 min read

    • Article

      First Date

      Jul 9, 2020

      First Date
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Wolf

      Nov 6, 2018

      The Wolf
      12 min read

    • Article

      The GRANDFATHER CLOCK

      Feb 10, 2021

      The GRANDFATHER CLOCK
      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Sweet Companion

    4/5

    19 ratings1 review

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      This is a cute and amusing little short story. I enjoyed it.

      1 person found this helpful

    Book preview

    Sweet Companion - Nancy Lawrence

    SWEET COMPANION

    Nancy Lawrence

    Published by Anglocentria, Inc. at Smashwords

    Copyright © 2010 by Nancy Starts. All rights reserved.

    Discover other titles by Nancy Lawrence at Smashwords.com:

    A Bewitching Minx

    An Intimate Arrangement

    Once Upon A Christmas

    Smashwords Edition, License Notes

    This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

    Sweet Companion

    Chapter One

    Antony Aylesworth St. John, Fifth Earl of Granfell, drove his very elegant curricle at a rapid pace up to Number Nine Grosvenor Place. He waited just long enough to bring his famous matched bays to a mincing and prancing halt before he tossed the reins to his tiger and leapt gracefully down to the flagway.

    Walk 'em, John, he said over his shoulder. I won't be long. And mind you keep a bit of the edge on them!

    The front door to his mother's house opened magically at his approach, and he entered to find Mawson waiting in the hall, ready to divest his lordship of his hat, gloves, and fashionable many-caped driving coat.

    How is she this morning, Mawson? asked his lordship out of habit. As was also his habit, he did not wait for an answer, but headed straight for the stairs.

    Mawson did his best to warn him, saying in his most efficient butler's voice, Beg pardon, your lordship, but I believe you'll find her ladyship—

    In her room? Yes, I know, Mawson, said Lord Granfell, taking the stairs two at a time.

    Mawson tried again. Your lordship, I am rather afraid— He stopped short as Lord Granfell disappeared from sight around the stair landing.

    The earl gained the second floor and gave a peremptory tap at the door of his mother's bedroom. Again, he did not wait for an answer, but immediately swung the door open with all the usual blustery, good-natured style he employed whenever he visited her. He was halfway across to the bed before he realized it was empty and that the room had undergone a transformation. No longer did it look the least like a sickroom.

    The draperies had been tied back to allow in the morning sun, and a very soft, refreshing breeze came through the open window to erase all the old familiar odors of invalidism. The bed was very neatly made up, and the table beside the bed was cleared of all the vials, tinctures, and treatments that had littered the table tops of his mother's bedroom for as long as he could remember.

    His tall, muscular body drew up into a rigid line, and the color drained from his handsome face. He stood stock-still in the middle of the room as an unspeakable thought, long dreaded, came to him in a rush.

    An almost overwhelming sense of regret enveloped him—regret that he had not planned his visit earlier; regret that he had not appreciated how seriously her health had declined; regret that she might have been alone at the end.

    Oh, Mother! he uttered, hardly aware that he was speaking aloud.

    Antony? Antony, is that you? I'm in here, my dear! came his mother's voice from the next room, so unexpectedly sweet and strong that he was half afraid he had imagined it.

    He followed the sound of her voice to the sitting room, where he found her alone and quite comfortably established on a small settee drawn near the fireplace. Her legs were encased in their usual cocoon of blankets to keep them warm, and in her hands she held a book that bore all the appearance of a romantic novel from the lending library.

    He fixed her with a penetrating stare of anger born of worry and demanded, Have you any idea of the fright you just gave me?

    She smiled up at him and set her book aside. Oh, don't look so astonished and come and kiss me!

    His frown cleared slightly, but his emotions were still in too much of an uproar for him to refrain from scolding her just a little.

    I shall do so willingly—if I can be sure you are indeed my mother. But, you see, the mother I know has not in recent memory been outside the confines of her bedroom before—barring one very disastrous trip to Bath a few months back. You are not supposed to be without the presence of either your maid or your physician, both of whom—I might be forgiven to remind you—I pay a most handsome sum to ensure one of them remains with you at all times!

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1